In an overmolded electronic device package, an integrated circuit die is covered with encapsulation material in order to protect the die from the external environment. In a typical manufacturing process, the integrated circuit die is placed on a leadframe prior to encapsulation, and wirebonds are connected between the die's contacts and leads of the leadframe. Encapsulation material is then applied to substantially surround the integrated circuit die and the wirebonds, and to partially surround the leads.
Although such packaging techniques have worked well for many years, they constrain the development of some new device configurations. For example, an emerging industry trend is to include multiple die within a single package in order to increase the capabilities of a device. In some cases, multiple die may be stacked, interconnected, and encapsulated together. Development of such configurations is limited in that electrical connections to all contacts need to be established before the encapsulation is applied. Otherwise, unconnected contacts would be embedded in the encapsulation material and, thus, would not be externally accessible. What are needed are packaging techniques that permit the development of new electronic device configurations.